Karla Kuskin
Karla Kuskin '''(July 17, 1932 - August 20, 2009) was a prolific American poet, prose author, illustrator, and reviewer of children's literature. Kuskin was known for her poetic, alliterative style.Something about the Author Autobiography Series, Volume 3, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1987 Life Born '''Karla Seidman in 1932 in Manhattan, New York, Kuskin was the only child of Sidney and Mitzi Seidman. She was raised in Greenwich Village, New York City, and attended the Little Red School House, followed by Elizabeth Irwin High School. She then attended Antioch College in 1950-1953, transferring to Yale where she studied with, among others, Josef Albers, Herbert Matter and Alvin Eisenman. She earned a B.F.A. in graphic design in 1955 from Yale. Before working as a full-time author, she worked as an assistant to a fashion photographer, a design assistant, and in advertising. Her first book, Roar and More (Harper, 1956), came out of her senior graphic-arts project at Yale to design and print a book on a small press. She was married to Charles M. Kuskin, oboist, from 1955 to 1979, and in 1989 married William L. Bell Jr, a lawyer with the Center for Naval Analyses. Kuskin reviewed children's literature for the New York Times Book Review. She lived and worked in Brooklyn, New York, for most of her life, moving to Bainbridge Island, Washington, then settling in Seattle, Washington, at the end of her life. In August 2009, Kuskin died of corticobasal degeneration in Seattle, at age 77. Writing Kuskin both wrote and illustrated nearly half of the books credited to her. She sometimes wrote under the pseudonym "Nicholas J. Charles". Kuskin wrote Paul in 1994, with paintings by Milton Avery, which had originally been created for an abandoned children's book, to go with a (now lost) story by writer H.R. Hays, nearly 30 years after the painter's death. Recognition She was the recipient of a National Council of Teachers of English Award for Excellence in Poetry.http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/12350/Karla_Kuskin/index.aspx Publications Non-fiction *''Thoughts, Pictures, and Words'' (autobiography; with photos by Nicholas Kuskin) (1995) Juvenile Verse *''In the Middle of the Trees'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper, 1958. *''The Animals and the Ark'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper, 1958 **(illustrated by Michael Grejniec). New York: Atheneum, 2002. *''Square as a House'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper, 1960. *''Alexander Soames: His poems'' (as "Nicholas J. Charles"). New York: Harper & Row, 1962. *''The Rose on My Cake'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper, 1964. *''Any Me I Want to Be: Poems'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper & Row, 1972. *''Near the Window Tree: Poems and notes'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper & Row, 1975. *''Dogs and Dragons, Trees and Dreams: A collection of poems'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper & Row, 1980. *''Something Sleeping in the Hall: Poems'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper & Row, 1985. *''Soap Soup, and other verses'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: HarperCollins, 1992. *''Moon, Have You Met My Mother? Collected poems (illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier). New York: Laura Geringer Books, 2003. Stories *''Roar and More (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper, 1956. *''James and the Rain'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper & Row, 1957 **(illustrated by Reg Cartwright). New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. *''Just like Everyone Else'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper, 1959. *''Which Horse Is William?'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper, 1959. *''The Bear Who Saw the Spring'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper, 1961. *''All Sizes of Noises'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper, 1962. *''How Do You Get from Here to There?'' (as "Nicholas J. Charles"; illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Macmillan, 1962. *''Sand and Snow'' (as "Nicholas J. Charles"). New York: Harper & Row, 1965. *''Jane Anne June Spoon and Her Very Adventurous Search for the Moon'' (as "Nichals J. Charles"; illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Norton, 1966. *''The Walk the Mouse Girls Took'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York & London: Harper & Row 1967. *''Watson, the Smartest Dog in the U.S.A.'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper & Row, 1968. *''In the Flaky Frosty Morning'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Harper & Row, 1969. *''What Did You Bring Me?'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York & London: Harper & Row, 1973. *''A Boy Had a Mother Who Bought Him a Hat'' (illustrated by Kuskin). Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1976 **(illustrated by Kevin Hawkes). New York: Laura Geringer Books, 2010. *''A Space Story'' (illustrated by Marc Simont). New York: Harper & Row, 1978. *''Herbert Hated Being Small'' (illustrated by Kuskin). Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979. *''Night Again'' (illustrated by Kuskin). Boston: Little, Brown, 1981. *''The Philharmonic Gets Dressed'' (illustrated by Marc Simont). New York: Harper & Row, 1982. *''The Dallas Titans Get Ready for Bed'' (illustrated by Mark Simont). New York: Harper & Row, 1986. *''Jerusalem, Shining Still'' (illustrated by David Frampton). New York: Harper & Row, 1987. *''A Great Miracle Happened There: A Chanukah story'' (illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker). New York: Willa Perlman Books, 1993. *''Paul'' (paintings by Milton Avery). New York: HarperCollins, 1994. *''City Dog'' (illustrated by Kuskin). New York: Clarion Books, 1994. *''Patchwork Island'' (illustrated by Petra Mathers). New York: HarperCollins, 1994. *''City Noise'' (illustrated by Renee Flower). New York: HarperCollins, 1994. *''Thoughts, Pictures, and Words'' (illustrated by Nicholas Kuskin). Katonah, NY: Owen Publishers, 1995. *''The Upstairs Cat'' (illustrated by Howard Fine). New York: Clarion Books, 1997. *''The Sky Is Always in the Sky'' (illustrated by Isabelle Dervaux). New York: Laura Geringer Books, 1998. *''I Am Me'' (illustrated by Dyanna Wolcott). New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. *''Under My Hood I Have a Hat'' (illustrated by Fumi Kosaka). New York: Laura Geringer Books, 2004. *''Toots the Cat'' (illustrated by Lisze Bechtold). New York: Holt, 2005. *''So, What's It Like to Be a Cat?'' (illustrated by Betsy Lewin). New York: Atheneum, 2005. *''Green as a Bean'' (illustrated by Melissa Iwai). New York: Laura Geringer Books, 2007. *''A Boy Had a Mother Who Bought Him a Hat'' (illustrated by Kevin Hawkes). New York: Harper, 2010. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Karla Kuskin, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Centre Inc. Web, Oct. 28, 2014. See also * List of U.S. poets References Notes External links ;Poems * Karla Kusdin 1932-2000 at the Poetry Foundation ;Books *Karla Kuskin at Amazon.com ;About *Kuskin at Scholastic Books website *Karla Kuskin Official website. *Interview at the Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education website Category:American children's writers Category:Children's book illustrators Category:Writers from New York Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Manhattan Category:People from Seattle, Washington Category:Yale University alumni Category:American Jews Washington Category:1932 births Category:2009 deaths Category:20th-century poets Category:20th-century women writers Category:American poets Category:American women writers Category:Children's poets Category:English-language poets Category:Jewish poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets